Simon Says
by purplerayz
Summary: You have a decision to make. Every hour that is. Either I kill someone, or I hurt him in whichever way I choose. - An unsub forces the team to make a hard decision.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters.**

**This story kind of sparked off of my poem "It's Only a Choice" - even though it is really different. I promise the rest of the chapters won't be this short!**

**I appreciate reviews and comments!**

* * *

BAU Team,

I have a question for all of you. Have you noticed yet? Of course you have. I'll admit that was a dumb question on my part.

You probably thought nothing of it at first, but now you worried. And I know your worry is increasing as you're reading this letter. You're worried something is wrong.

And you have every right to be. He has not arrived to work yet, but don't bother waiting for him. He's not going to show up.

You see, I have a proposition for all of you. You have a decision to make. Every hour, that is. Either I kill someone, or I hurt him in whichever way I choose.

I honestly don't care which. I have fun either way.

It's your choice. Do you want the bodies to pile up? Or do you want him to die a slow, painful death? Personally, I prefer the latter, but I will honor your choice.

Every hour. Your choice. My doing.

There is one other option, I guess. Find me. Good luck with that, though. I know your team is one of the best there is. It might even be the best.

But I'm better.

I know your team is close, and I'm not entirely cruel, so you can all decide together.

Well, with the exception of him, of course. He's the only one of your team who doesn't get any say in this. Pity. He's the one who'd probably want the most say.

It's easy to tell you all feel very protective of him. You can still protect him now, but it comes with a cost.

Your first hour is up at 12:00 PM. If you don't make a decision by the time each hour is up, I will kill someone AND hurt him.

Oh, the fun I could have.

So, Agents Hotchner, Rossi, Morgan, Prentiss, Jareau, and Garcia, it's all up to you. What will become of your beloved Dr. Reid?

With MY pleasure,

Well, you'll just have to figure out who I am for yourselves before it's too late.

Good luck.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters.**

**I appreciate reviews and comments!**

* * *

The group of agents stared at the letter displayed before them. The letter was neatly typed on plain white paper. It had been delivered in a large envelope so there were no creases in it. It was in pristine condition, not a single mark, crease, or bent edge. It was somehow taunting the remaining team members, as if to say, 'This is the condition Dr. Reid is in now, but he won't be for long.'

The room was deathly silent. An explosion could occur right next to them, and no one in the room would even blink. Nothing else mattered at the moment. Everyone had noticed Reid's absence, yet none of them were overly worried by it. Late night, alarm clock not going off, oversleeping. It happened to everyone. Though extremely rare, not even genius Reid was an exception to that.

As soon as the letter had been received, though, everything changed. The normal, pleasant mood that filled the offices suddenly turned dark. The extreme seriousness of the situation was made known quite quickly to everyone as they gathered at the table in the conference room. The air of gathering in this room was never good. No case that they received was ever good, but the atmosphere was different this time. The horrid realization of what was happening provided for an ominous silence. Prentiss was the first to break it.

"What do we do?"

"We can't play into his game," Morgan answered without taking his eyes off the letter.

"What other choice do we have?" she responded back. "We can look for Reid all we want, but do you honestly think there's going to be any evidence to help find him?"

"He's obviously studied us," Rossi commented. "He's smart. He's got this all planned out. He wouldn't have left any evidence behind."

"How was the letter delivered?" Morgan asked.

"It was sitting on my desk along with my other mail," JJ answered. "Why'd he give it to me, though?"

"The unsub probably knows you're the one who gives us our cases," Rossi suggested. "Maybe he wanted this to be done the same way. We have to be careful. He may have been watching all of us. And who knows for how long. He's got every detail of this planned out. He had to have known you'd find the letter before the deadline."

"I just wish I had decided to look through my mail sooner."

"It wouldn't have made any difference, JJ," Morgan said, trying to ease her obvious guilt a bit. "It only would have given us a little more time, and I don't think we'll be able to find out much with the two hours that we do have. Garcia, maybe you should look at any security footage for JJ's office. See if the mail deliverer brought it or someone else stuck it in. I highly doubt whoever has Reid delivered it in person."

"Wait, how do we even know he has Reid for sure?" Garcia asked, obviously trying to hide the worry in her voice. She, like everyone else, didn't want to believe this was happening.

"Because of this," JJ answered as she pulled something else out. It had come in the same envelope as the letter had. It was a photo, and on the photo was a bound and unconscious Reid, lying in what looked to be the back of a van. It was all the proof they needed.

"We can't let him hurt Reid," Garcia pleaded as she forced herself to look away from the picture, from the seemingly peaceful Reid.

"I know we can't, baby girl," Morgan said softly. "But we can't let him kill innocent people either."

"Then how are we supposed to decide?" JJ asked.

"We don't decide." Everyone turned to Hotch as he spoke for the first time since they had come into the conference room.

"But if we don't decide, he'll just kill someone and hurt Reid, too. That will just be worse."

"I didn't think it could get any worse," Garcia mumbled quietly.

"That's not exactly what he meant," Rossi said. He was the only one in the room who seemed to understand right away what Hotch was trying to say to them.

Hotch sighed as he looked at everyone sitting at the table. The undue amount of stress that was suddenly thrust upon him was showing slightly on his face. Anyone else may not have noticed, but the team surely did. They all felt it, too. The day that had started out normal was now turning into a nightmare.

"I know this is hard, but we have to think of Reid here," Hotch explained carefully. "We can't deny that it's going to take time to find him, so we're going to have to play into the unsub's game until we do. Reid wouldn't want innocent people to die because of him. He couldn't live with that. I don't think any of us could. We have to consider what he'd tell us to do."

Everyone now understood what Hotch was getting at. Morgan sighed sadly as he closed his eyes. "He'd tell us to choose him."


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters.**

**I appreciate reviews and comments!**

* * *

Reid slowly began to wake. He hated waking up before his alarm went off. It usually meant he wouldn't be able to fall back asleep, and he'd be up for the day. Today seemed different, though. He felt as though something was strongly pulling him back towards his previous sleeping state.

The oddness of the situation was the only thing that kept him from giving back in to his deep slumber. The sounds he began to hear around him confused him, or rather the sounds he didn't hear. The normal background noises of his apartment were completely absent. In fact, he didn't seem to hear any noises at all. He couldn't recall being out on a case either, so he was sure a hotel was out of the question. Especially since hotels usually weren't this quiet.

Only when he tried to shift in his bed did he realize he wasn't even in a bed at all. He wasn't even lying down for that matter. He was sitting on some sort chair, he realized. A very hard, uncomfortable chair. He sat there a few minutes before he decided he should probably be questioning _why_ he had been sleeping on the chair in the first place.

It took him another minute or so to even try to move, and when he did, the panic started to set in. His wrists were tightly bound to the chair behind him. He finally lifted his head and forced his eyes open, but it took a few moments for the blurriness to fade away. He was now sure that the sleep he had been in was not at all a normal one.

He looked around the room he was in. There wasn't much to look at. It was completely empty, apart from three things. Himself, for one. The second was a small black tote bag setting on the floor. He wasn't completely sure he wanted to know what was inside of it, though, because of the third thing in the room with him. It was the man who he presumed to be the one who had apparently kidnapped him.

He slowly started to remember now. He had woken up in the middle of the night to get a glass of water. He set the glass down when he thought he heard a noise coming from his spare bedroom. He grabbed his gun out of pure precaution and checked it out, but found nothing, so he returned to his drink. It was on the way back to his bedroom that he began to feel it. He felt dizzy. At first he thought it was just because he was tired, and he figured it would pass. But then he suddenly found he was unable to keep himself steady any longer. The next and last thing he knew was the floor suddenly rushing up to meet his face.

"Glad to see you're awake," the man said to him, bringing him out of his recollection. "Good timing, too. I was beginning to worry you wouldn't be able to enjoy the beginning of the show. That wouldn't have been much fun, seeing as you seem to be the star."

Reid wanted to say something, but he still felt groggy and unable to fully function. He had many questions floating around his mind, none of which he knew would be provided with good answers.

"I suppose you'd like you know why you're here," the man continued. "It's pretty simple really. You don't even have to do anything. You get to sit here and wait patiently while your team decides what happens. Every hour, they get to make a choice. They get to decide whether I kill someone or I hurt you. And if they don't make a decision by the time each hour is up, then I get to do both."

"Hurt me," Reid said automatically as he finally found his voice.

"That's very noble of you, but I'm afraid you don't get any say in the matter."

"My team will choose to hurt me." Reid spoke slightly more confidently than he actually felt. "They won't let innocent people die."

"You seem quite sure about that," the man replied. "Well, Dr. Reid. It's almost time, so we won't have to wait long to find out whether or not you're right."

* * *

Hotch grabbed his phone as it began to ring and read the collar ID, which showed an unknown number. "It's him," he informed everyone. He knew it couldn't be anyone else but the unsub. They hadn't been sure how he would be contacting them, but they were prepared.

"The trace is ready whenever you are, sir," Garcia said to him.

Hotch nodded and set his phone on speaker for everyone in the room to hear.

"Time's up," came the voice from the other end of the phone. "You know the rules. And don't try to chit chat and keep me talking. You won't be able to trace this call, Penelope. And no playing around to try to get any information from me, either. I'm only calling for your answer, nothing else. Have you come to a decision?"

"Yes," Hotch answered simply.

"Good. What did you choose?"

"We chose Reid."

"Really? I guess that doesn't surprise me. The young genius here said that's what I should do, too. He was also pretty confident you'd choose to have him hurt. Either he has complete faith in all of you, or no faith at all. I'm not sure which. I understand how you can choose him now, but I'll give you something to think about while you wait for my next call. How long will it take before you can't stand him getting hurt any longer? Eventually, one body can only take so much, Agent Hotchner."

Hotch directly chose to ignore his comments. "You seem to know a lot about us, but we don't know anything about you. What's your name?"

"You can call me Simon, but don't bother looking the name up. You know as well as I do that it's not my real name. I have some business to attend to now. We'll talk again in an hour."

The line went dead, and everyone immediately looked towards Garcia, who looked defeated.

"I'm sorry, guys. He wasn't lying. I couldn't trace it."


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters.**

**I appreciate reviews and comments!**

* * *

Simon grinned at Reid as he closed the phone in his hand. "Well, it looks like you were right, Dr. Reid. Your team chose me to hurt you. Let me ask you something, though. Does that make you feel relieved, or does it make you feel worried?"

"Neither," Reid responded. He did not want to give Simon anything he could use against him in some way. Truth was, he felt both relieved and worried. And even though his team chose what he hoped they would, it still hurt him slightly. He knew they had to choose him, and he wanted them to, but he didn't want to be hurt either. He knew his team had no better option, but there was no telling how far this game of Simon's would actually go. He could easily change his mind, change the rules, or even just decide to kill Reid instead if he felt like it. There was no way of knowing what was going to happen in the next few hours, and that scared him.

As Reid's mind raced through all the different emotions he was feeling, he suddently realized something. At the moment, he actually felt worse for his team for having to make this decision than he did for himself for being in this situation.

"Well, let's get down to business, shall we?" Simon didn't wait for a response from Reid and reached for the tote bag setting near his feet. He opened it slowly as if to purposely prolong Reid's torture of not knowing what was contained inside it.

But Reid didn't have to see what was inside to make an educated guess. "You don't have to do this, you know," he tried. "You can stop this before it even starts."

"I understand your need to try to talk me out of this, Dr. Reid, but it's not going to work. It has already started, and it's not going to stop until it ends."

"How exactly is this supposed to end?" Reid asked. He wasn't completely sure he wanted to know the answer, and wasn't at all surprised when he didn't receive one.

"We'll get to that later. You can't stall me forever, so you might as well stop trying."

Knowing he was right, Reid watched silently as Simon reached into the bag. He was almost relieved when he saw him pull out a knife. It felt weird to feel that way, but he was sure there were much worse instruments in the bag that could be used instead.

"We'll start off simple," Simon said as he closed the gap between the two of them with a couple of steps.

Reid's eyes wandered nervously back and forth from Simon to the knife, wondering exactly how bad Simon was planning on hurting him.

* * *

"It's safe to assume Reid was taken from his apartment," Hotch told everyone. "There weren't any signs of a struggle, but his keys, badge, and gun are still there. The crime scene techs haven't found anything yet, and I doubt that they will. He could have been taken anytime between when he got home from work yesterday to early this morning."

"I've got nothing on the security footage," Garcia added. "Only the mail deliverer was in JJ's office, so the letter must have been slipped in somewhere along the line. I could try to backtrack the deliverer's path to see if any of the cameras caught when the letter got mixed in."

"Good," Hotch approved. "Although, if he's as smart as we think he is, then you won't be able to find anything."

"So what is this?" JJ asked to no one in particular. "Is this just a game to him, or is it some sort of revenge on Reid?"

"I don't know," Hotch responded. "We'll have to go through all the cases Reid was involved in for anyone who might be looking for revenge. Find any case where Reid may have had more of an impact than the rest of us."

"That's a lot to go through, Hotch," Morgan said. "And we don't even have anything specific to look for."

"Garcia, I'll have you cross reference the name Simon with all the people involved in the cases, including any relatives of the victims and unsubs."

"That's a long shot," Prentiss commented. "It's very unlikely that it's even his real name. He said it himself."

"I know, but he could have easily been lying, so we still have to look. Plus, it's all we've got right now. The name probably has some sort of meaning to him at the very least. It might somehow be linked to the case as well."

The room became silent until Prentiss finally asked the question that had been bothering her. "Does anybody else think that he might have chosen the name Simon for a different reason?"

Rossi looked at her and nodded. "It could be his way of saying he's in charge. He believes we have to do whatever he says."

"Wait," JJ interjected. "Are you saying that this might be like some sort of sick game of Simon Says?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying it might be," Rossi responded. "And I really don't want to play if it is."

Hotch nodded in agreement. "He's going to be making his own rules, and he'll change them whenever he pleases, which makes it more difficult on our part. But Reid's strong," he encouraged. "He'll be okay."

"Yeah," Morgan agreed. "But for how long, Hotch? As much as I hate to admit it, the bastard was right. It's going to get harder and harder for us to choose Reid. And there's no telling how much he's actually going to hurt Reid each time."

"We have to find him before this goes too far," Prentiss put in.

"I know we do," Hotch said, "But right now, we don't have anything else to go on until the unsub calls us again."

"But him calling also means that he'll hurt Reid again after the next hour is up."

Morgan looked up at the clock as he spoke, and the others unconsciously copied his action. "Which is coming way too fast for my liking."


	5. Chapter 5

**Dislcaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters.**

**I appreciate reviews and comments!**

* * *

"Hurts, doesn't it?"

Reid looked up at Simon. "Not so much anymore," he replied honestly. The long slice down his upper right arm had hurt quite a bit, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. He had felt worse pain than that before, and the pain from the cut had by now turned to a dull throbbing. A decent amount of blood had dripped down his arm and formed a small pool on the floor. The wound was still bleeding some, but it had slowed considerably.

Reid had made sure not to give Simon any satisfaction, and hadn't made a sound when the blade had pierced his skin. He had tried hard not to show any discomfort, but he still hadn't been able to hold back a wince when Simon had cut him.

Simon left the room, and Reid immediately tried to work at his bound arms. He ignored the slight bolts of pain that shot through his arm with each movement. Eventually, he gave up. The bonds on his wrists weren't loosening even the slightest.

It seemed like only a few minutes had passed before Simon was back, but Reid knew it was longer than that. He knew the next hour was already over. Simon reached into his tote bag and pulled out a roll of duct tape.

"I'll let you listen in on this conversation, but you can't make a sound."

Before Reid could protest, Simon had ripped off a strip of duct tape and stuck it over his mouth, effectively silencing him. Simon set his phone on speaker before dialing the number he wanted. Once again, he spoke first.

"Time's up," he began just as he had the first time. "Have you come to a decision?"

"Our choice is still the same," Hotch's voice came from the phone. The sound of his voice somehow eased Reid's nervousness slightly. It gave him a semblance of hope. He wasn't going to take for granted the fact that he had the best group of people looking for him. No matter how long it took, they wouldn't stop searching for him. He knew they would never give up on him, so he wasn't about to give up on them either.

"Ah, just as I'd expect," Simon responded. He never took his eyes off of Reid as he talked. "I suppose you'd all love to know how the young Dr. Reid is doing... Is it worse?"

"Is what worse?"

"Not knowing. If I'm not mistaken, I believe something similar to this happened before with Dr. Reid. Is it worse not being able to see him at all this time?" Simon asked, but he didn't give any time for a reply. "I know you don't want to rely on my word, but I will tell you that he's still fine. For now, anyways. He's sitting right next to me, but he's not allowed to speak. I must say, the blood just doesn't quite suit him. It makes him look that much more... naïve. I know you feel sometimes that he's too young to be doing this job, especially when he had first started. But you'd be proud to know that he took it quite well. Hardly even flinched."

"Did that disappoint you?" Hotch asked.

"Would it matter if it did?" Simon asked. "Stop trying to profile me, Agent Hotchner. Your profiling tricks won't help you this time. You can't talk me out of doing this. Nothing will stop me from hurting Dr. Reid. Or killing someone, if you so choose."

"You know we can't choose that."

"I know, but as the hours pass by, you'll be very tempted to. You'll be tempted to relieve Dr. Reid of any more pain. I might even dare say, Agent Hotchner, you _will_ choose it in the end."

* * *

"Oh, god. How bad did he hurt him?" Garcia asked.

"It can't be that bad," Morgan hoped, trying to forget the mention of blood on Reid. "He wants this to last."

"He does," Hotch agreed. "But I still don't like the sound of what he said."

"He's bleeding," Garcia said worriedly. "It's definitely not good if he's bleeding."

"That bothers me, but I'm more worried about the fact that he made a reference to when Reid was kidnapped before. He hasn't just been watching us. He's done his research on us, too."

JJ's eyes popped open as a thought occurred to her. "Do-do you think he knows about him being drugged, too?"

"I don't think we have to worry too much about that," Rossi answered. "This doesn't feel like it's supposed to be a copycat of that. I think he's just using the information to taunt us."

"It's probably not the end of his taunting either," Hotch added. "We can expect more."

"We can't let anything he says get to us," Morgan said. "That's exactly what he wants from us."

"He's too confident," Rossi commented. "He's so sure that we're going to give in."

"That could be a good thing," Hotch suggested. "Overconfidence means mistakes. It could cause him to let something slip."

"I know it feels incredibly wrong to think this," Prentiss began, "but I just can't help but think that if he would kill someone, he'd probably leave some evidence behind."

"You're right, though," Rossi agreed. "We have nothing that gives us any hint to where to look for him. A body would give us something. He'd have less than an hour to do it. I hate to say it, too, but it would at least give us a limited area where he would have to be keeping Reid."

"We're going to have to wait for the next call again," Morgan stated. "We have to get him to give us something we can use."

"He hasn't been allowing much of a chance for that," Hotch remarked. "He calls, wants his answer, and taunts us before cutting us off abruptly."

"Maybe next time we should try stalling our answer," Morgan recommended. "We might have a better chance of getting something out of him then."

"We'd have to be careful. If we wait too long, he'll think we don't have an answer."

"But I think we have to at least try. Otherwise, we got nothing."


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters.**

**I wasn't planning on posting anything today, but I think I'm as excited about this story as you guys are, so here's the next chapter!**

**I appreciate reviews and comments!**

* * *

"I think I'm going to stick with the knife for now," Simon informed Reid. "I like the feeling of it in my hand."

Reid didn't respond. He couldn't even if he wanted to. Simon hadn't removed the duct tape from his mouth.

Simon took the already bloodied knife and pressed it against Reid's abdomen. Reid involuntarily tried to back away, but obviously failed. This time, after the blade ripped his shirt and pierced his skin, he couldn't hold back a small groan. The duct tape muffled his groan as it prevented the sound from fully escaping his lips. While the blade was brought slowly across his torso, he closed his eyes and breathed deeply, as deeply as only being able to breathe through his nose would allow him to. But as hard as he tried to breathe through the pain, it didn't help all that much.

"I suppose that hurt a bit more than your arm did. That's understandable."

Simon finally removed the duct tape, ripping it off of Reid's mouth. Normally, Reid knew that would hurt, but the pain in his abdomen overrode the pain on his mouth by a long shot.

"Why-why are you doing this?" Reid finally managed to ask.

"If I tell you that, it ruins the mystery and all the fun. But don't worry, Dr. Reid. You'll find out eventually. You don't need to know just yet. All you need to know is that this is happening, and you can't stop it. Neither can your team."

Simon left the room, leaving Reid alone again. All Reid could do was sit there, trying to ignore the pain while he waited for Simon to return.

* * *

"How are we supposed to just sit here while he hurts Reid?" Garcia asked.

Morgan answered her. "Girl, you know we'd be doing something if we could, but we've got absolutely nothing to go on. All we can do is wait."

"No, you do not understand. I can't wait. You know I'm not good at waiting, Derek. I need to be doing something for him. Anything."

Morgan was at a loss for what to say to her since there was absolutely nothing they could be doing, but thankfully, Prentiss intervened.

"Garcia, why don't we go take a walk outside," she suggested. "It'll do us some good."

"But..." Garcia protested.

"Don't worry. I promise we'll be back before the next call."

"O-okay," Garcia finally agreed.

The two left the room, and Morgan made a mental note to thank Prentiss later.

"Are you okay?" Prentiss asked once they were outside the building.

"How are all of you guys so calm?" Garcia asked back. "I know this is your job, but seriously. This is Reid. Our Reid. How can you not be freaking out?"

"I don't know," Prentiss answered. "I honestly don't know. I guess maybe it could have something to do with the fact that something like this has happened before, and Reid came out of it fine."

"That's exactly my point! This is happening to him again! Hasn't he been through enough? You know, last time we had video of him. I mean, I didn't want to watch, but at least it was proof that he was still okay. It's worse not knowing." Garcia's voice was beginning to crack, and tears were threatening to fall from her eyes. "I-I saw him die, Emily... I don't think I can take this again. We don't need this to happen again... _Reid_ doesn't need this to happen again."

"Garcia, I need you to listen to me, okay?" Prentiss waited for Garcia to nod in response as she tried to gain control of herself a little. "We are going to find him. He is going to be okay. You can't give up on him."

Garcia shook her head. "I could never give up on him."

"Good. Now, can I let you in on a little secret?" Garcia nodded. "I can tell you, without a doubt, that not one of us up there is calm."

"You're not?"

"No. We're all worried. We're all scared. We've just gotten good at hiding things like that. So don't think you're alone here."

"Even Hotch isn't calm? 'Cause I'm pretty sure he's hardly even blinked since this whole thing started."

"Yes," Emily chuckled. "Even Hotch. More so than the rest of us probably."

"Okay," Garcia took in a deep breath. "If Hotch is freaking out, then I don't feel so bad."

"Good. Now. Are you ready to go back inside?"

"No," Garcia shook her head. "But we have to. For Reid."

* * *

"It's time. Have you come to a decision?"

"Can I ask you something first?" Hotch asked carefully.

"And what would that be?"

"Why are you doing this, Simon?"

"Wow," Simon laughed. "You guys are too much alike. Dr. Reid just asked the same question a little bit ago."

"Well we'd all like to know why. Maybe we could help you."

"You can't help me, Agent Hotchner. It's too late for that. Far too late."

"Why is it too late?" Hotch asked. "You can still stop this while you're ahead."

"Just so you know, Dr. Reid has already tried this, and it obviously didn't work then, so it's not going to work now. You might as well not waste the effort."

"Has Reid done something to anger you?"

"Now why would you say that?"

"You had to have chosen to take him for a reason. I can't think of any other reason why you would."

"Do you like games, Agent Hotchner?"

"Is that why you're doing this?" Hotch asked back. "You just want to play a game with us?"

"I didn't say that," Simon responded cryptically. "But I don't know if I'd entirely deny it either."

"So it's both," Hotch stated.

"Both what?"

"Getting revenge and playing a game."

"You better be careful, Agent Hotchner. You don't seem to be profiling at the moment. It sounds like you're just guessing to me. I'm pretty sure profiling gets you answers, but when you start to guess, well, that's when you make mistakes. I don't believe I need to tell you how much those mistakes can cost in your line of work." Simon paused before he continued. "I know you have tried to put a profile together of me, so it kind of disappoints me."

"What does?"

"You should have known."

"What should we have known?" Hotch asked.

"Have you come to a decision?"

Hotch was confused slightly by Simon's sudden repeat of the question, but he tried to ignore it and sighed as he answered. He knew he shouldn't try to push it too far by putting it off any longer. "It's still the same."

"Good," Simon responded. "But did I not tell you earlier that there was to be no playing around? That I only called for your answer and nothing else? You should have profiled me well enough to have known what I'd do if you did that. I do believe you you've been stalling me from receiving your answer. What did I just say about mistakes, Agent Hotchner? That is going to cost you."

Hotch froze as he listened to what Simon was saying. He had screwed up. He pushed it too far. Everyone was nervously glancing at each other, but Hotch didn't notice. He was too busy thinking about what he knew Simon was going to say next.

"And Dr. Reid will be the one suffering the consequences."


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters.**

**I appreciate reviews and comments!**

* * *

Morgan slammed his fist against the wall in front of him. It took all the control he had inside him not to do it again. He was still in the conference room, but it was now empty. Everyone had scattered after Simon had cut them off once again. Everyone's emotions were beginning to run wild, including his own. They all had to deal with their own emotions before they could think straight, and it was hard to look at each other while knowing what was happening to Reid at this very moment. Especially since it was their fault he was probably going to be hurt worse this time.

Morgan didn't want to think anything beyond Simon hurting Reid more, but he couldn't help it. The profiler in him told him that Simon wouldn't kill Reid because of their mistake. Yet, he couldn't stop his mind from wandering that far.

He sat back down in one of the chairs and put his head in his hands as he tried to control his feelings. He knew he shouldn't, but he felt guilty.

"Are you okay, Morgan?"

Morgan looked up as JJ came back into the room. "No," he answered. "I'm not okay. I won't be. Not until we get Reid back... How about you? Are you okay?" It was quite obvious to him that she had been crying.

"The same," JJ responded quietly.

She sat in the chair next to him. They sat there together for a couple of minutes without speaking, almost as if in a silent vigil for Reid.

"I shouldn't have suggested that we stall," Morgan finally said.

"It's not your fault," JJ replied automatically. "We had to do it. If you wouldn't have suggested it, someone else would have."

"I know that, but I still feel guilty."

"He'll be okay," JJ assured him. She wasn't sure she quite believed it herself, but she needed to try to think positive in order to keep herself sane. "He has to be."

* * *

Reid stared at Simon as he closed the phone again. He wasn't completely sure how he should be feeling. He was worried about what Simon was going to do. He wasn't angry at any of his team members. This wasn't their fault, yet he knew they would feel guilty. It was just something else they had to do. They had to try to get Simon to give them something useful. Even though Simon had said they should have known, they really had no way of knowing that it would cause him to react this way.

Simon was watching Reid intently, apparently deciding what to do to him. Reid wanted nothing more than to wipe the smirk off his face.

"How were they supposed to know you would do this?" Reid asked.

"I told them I only called for their answer. They should have given it to me when I asked the first time."

"So you're punishing me for their mistake?"

"Something like that."

Reid had a feeling he knew what Simon meant. This wasn't only punishing him. It was hurting his team as well, and Simon knew that. He was also sure that Simon had been waiting for this. He was just patiently waiting to be given a reason, any reason at all, to make things worse.

Simon walked around behind Reid's chair, which caused Reid's nerves to be put on edge.

Simon chuckled slightly. "Relax, Dr. Reid. I'm not one to stab people in the back."

Reid wasn't sure if Simon meant that literally or metaphorically, but he was leaning more towards literally since Simon was currently in possession of a knife. Simon walked back to Reid's front and faced him.

"I'm sure you already know that this is going to hurt. I admire you're will to be strong, but you don't need to hold back. I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I'm not saying that I'm not enjoying doing this to you, but it's not your reactions to all of this that I'm after."

Reid looked at Simon, confused, but he didn't have long to contemplate the meaning of his words. Reid could do nothing but watch as Simon took the knife and stabbed it into his leg. He couldn't help but gasp at the sudden pain. He had been shot in the knee before, but this hurt much worse. Part of it could have been the fact that he saw it coming this time. Anticipation is the worst kind of torture. Waiting for it to come, while knowing nothing can be done to stop it.

The initial shock and pain were starting to subside slightly, but Reid knew Simon wasn't done yet. More anticipation. Reid knew Simon was going to pull the knife back out and tried to prepare himself for it, but it still wasn't enough. The knife was pulled out, and along with it came a steady flow of blood.

Reid was very much aware of the fact that he was starting to be pulled into the realm of unconsciousness. He tried to stay awake, but the pain and blood loss were taking control of his body on their own. He desperately tried to keep his eyes open, but they felt too heavy. So did his head. He was vaguely aware of his head falling towards his chest. As he could no longer do anything but give into the darkness that was threatening to overtake him, he could feel Simon's eyes watching him closely. Despite what Simon had just told him, Reid knew he was enjoying this. Every last bit of it.

* * *

The team was once again all gathered in the conference room. The tension in the room was hardly unnoticeable. It was nearly time for the next call. Everyone watched as the clock turned to 3:00pm.

The silence in the room turned deafening. The clock turned to 3:01pm. Simon had called every time at the top of the hour. Something was wrong.

They waited, all the while dreading and knowing that the call wasn't coming. Their minds automatically traveled to the worst case scenario. It couldn't have happened. No. It didn't fit Simon's profile. He wouldn't have ended it so soon. He obviously had more control than that.

As the minutes began to tick by, they could only sit there and wonder why Simon hadn't called.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters.**

**I know this chapter is really short, but hopefully I'll have the next one up later tonight.**

**I appreciate reviews and comments!**

* * *

BAU Team,

You obviously have a question for me. Why haven't I called?

I haven't called because I'm giving you a little break. Not that you need it, but Dr. Reid seems to. He's still recuperating from our last little session.

I know you have been extremely worried. You were worried that I may have killed him, but I didn't. He's not dead.

Not yet, anyways. I'm not sure how well his body would be able to handle another one of your screw ups, so I'd tread carefully from now on if I were you.

5:00pm will be your next deadline. I'm sure he will be awake by then. If not, then we will proceed as normal. I'd say the pain should bring him around if nothing else.

Maybe I will let you talk to him. That way you can explain to him why you screwed up, why it is that he is suffering from all this pain.

I hope you all have learned from this mistake of yours. I told you mistakes cost you dearly. I am not to be played with. I give you the rules. You follow them.

When the rules are broken, there are repercussions. You bring about his death much sooner each time you screw up.

Next time, I hope you think things through before you try something. Nothing I say is to be taken lightly.

Maybe you should be starting to reconsider your choice that you keep sticking with. If you want him to live, it might be a good idea.

Of course, if you keep choosing it, he'll eventually die anyway, so you might as well keep screwing up. His death will come a bit quicker then.

I said it's all up to you what becomes of your beloved Dr. Reid.

I wasn't lying. I never lie.

Simon.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters.**

**I appreciate reviews and comments!**

* * *

Slowly, the throbbing in his leg seemed to be the first thing Reid became aware of. The second was the stiffness in his body. He hadn't moved from the chair since however long it had been since Simon had put him there. His neck seemed especially stiff, and that made him wonder exactly how long he had been out. He slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the bloody mess of his leg. He lifted his head to find something less disturbing to look at. Simon was leaning against the wall in front of him. He suddenly found the sight of his leg a bit more appealing.

"I was beginning to worry about you. Maybe that was a little too much. At least your team will think before they act next time."

Simon finally stepped forward away from the wall, never taking his eyes off of Reid.

"You missed the last hour," Simon informed him before he smiled. "I bet that scared your team all to hell when I didn't call. I let them worry a bit longer than I probably had to before I sent them a letter explaining to them what was going on. There is still over an hour until their next deadline, but I think I'm going to call them now. You deserve to hear it from them why you were just put through that."

Reid was still slightly out of it, so it took a moment for him to register what Simon was saying to him. He was going to let him talk to his team. That thought suddenly seemed to act as a catalyst in waking him up. He became more aware of everything around him again, including the fact that Simon was already on the phone.

"He's awake," Simon was saying. "I'll give you five minutes."

Simon put the phone on speaker and set it on Reid's lap. Reid was so shocked when Simon left the room that it took a second for him to realize someone was talking to him.

* * *

"Reid?" Hotch asked hopefully, praying this was not a trick. He wouldn't put it past Simon to get their hopes up for nothing. "Reid?" he asked again.

"Hotch..."

The tension in the room visibly relaxed as everyone finally heard Reid's voice. His voice had a slightly pained edge to it, and tiredness was evident as well. Still, none of them could have been happier to hear it.

"Reid, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," came the reply, though clearly he was not.

"Don't lie Reid," Hotch ordered. "How bad has he hurt you?"

"Uh... A couple cuts and... he stabbed me in the leg... Apparently, he likes the knife," Reid tried to joke, but obviously failed.

"What can you tell us about Simon and where you're at?" Rossi asked.

"The room I'm in doesn't have any windows," Reid answered. "I don't know why, but Simon is letting me talk to you alone. He left the room."

"He could still be listening, though," Morgan suggested.

"Maybe you shouldn't say anything more, Reid," Hotch warned. "He'll only punish you if he thinks you said something he didn't want you to."

"Maybe, but I don't care," Reid replied. "You've got nothing, right?"

"Reid..."

Reid was dead on. They had absolutely nothing, but it didn't warrant a chance for Simon to put him through more torture.

"No. I know you guys don't have anything. If I can help you find him, I don't care if he hurts me."

Knowing Reid wasn't going to change his mind, Hotch begrudgingly let him continue.

"He's in his early thirties, dark brown hair, medium build."

"Does he look familiar to you?" Rossi asked. "He might be doing this for revenge."

"No, he doesn't. I would remember if I've seen him before." Reid paused. "He won't tell me why he's doing this, but something feels off."

"What do you mean?" Hotch asked.

"I don't know. Something he said earlier, but I can't quite figure it out."

"What did he say?"

"Before he, uh, stabbed my leg, he said I didn't need to hold back. He said he didn't care about my reactions, but I could tell he still liked watching me suffer."

Reid's choice of words caused the room to tense up again. They knew he had to be suffering, but hearing him actually say that seemed to make it that much more real.

"Reid..." Hotch began slowly. "I'm sorry."

"Hotch... I want you to promise me two things."

Hotch didn't respond right away. He wasn't liking Reid's tone of voice at the moment. Not because it was weak or worried, but because it was strong and confident. He felt like the way Reid seemed to be handling this should make him feel proud of the young man, yet something was holding him back from being able to feel that way. Most likely, it was the fact that Reid shouldn't have to be handling this situation at all to begin with.

"What's that?" Hotch finally asked.

"First, no matter what happens, or how long this lasts, I want you to keep choosing me."

"Reid..."

"Please. Just do it, Hotch."

Hotch sighed. "What's the second?"

"I want all of you to stop feeling guilty."

Everyone glanced around at each other. They all felt guilty. It was obvious. The fact that Reid knew they were and was telling them not to didn't help either.

"None of this is any of your faults," Reid continued. "You had no way of knowing what he was going to do, so stop thinking you should have been able to prevent it. And whatever he plans on doing isn't your fault either... I get the feeling he has an end game planned out for all of this. He knows how he wants this to end."

"Reid, we are going to find you," Morgan stated firmly.

"I know you will, but guys," Reid was struggling to find the right words without actually outright saying it. "You don't know how long that's going to take... Just... whatever happens... promise me... promise me you won't blame yourselves."

They all knew what he was saying, but they didn't want to hear it. It was apparent that Reid knew how dire the situation was. They had no leads. They had no idea why Simon was even doing this. Reid had said Simon had an end game, and they knew it wouldn't be good. They needed to stop this before it got that far, but right now, they couldn't help but notice that the entire situation was looking extremely grim.

* * *

"Time's up."

Reid hadn't even noticed that Simon had come back into the room. He took the phone from Reid's lap.

"I'll be calling again at the next deadline." He closed the phone and spoke to Reid. "Don't worry, Dr. Reid. I won't punish you for anything you said. If I didn't want you to say anything, I wouldn't have let you speak to them. That was really touching. I'm looking forward to seeing if you've convinced them enough to keep choosing you without feeling guilty about it. Guilt is a hard thing to get rid of, though."

Reid knew Simon was right. His team might be able to keep choosing him, but there was no way they would stop feeling guilty about it. And if this whole thing ended badly, their guilt would only deepen immensely.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters.**

**I appreciate reviews and comments!**

* * *

Though Reid was tired, he tried not to let his eyes fall closed for more than a few seconds at a time. It was hard, but he kept doing it. He had been doing it for the last three hours. Simon had called the team two more times since Reid had been able to talk to them, which also meant he donned two more injuries.

Simon had taken a strange liking to the knife, and Reid wasn't sure how he felt about that fact. Simon had obviously come prepared with other things, so it seemed a bit odd that he kept using it. Reid wasn't about to complain, though. He could handle the cuts he received. He just hoped he didn't have to go through another punishment like the first.

It was nearly time for Simon to call the team once again, so he was back in the room. He was in the habit of leaving the room in between calls, though Reid had no idea what he was doing. He didn't think he left the building at all, but he had no way of knowing for sure.

He knew his team still had nothing to go on. Simon had not willingly given anything more that could be useful to them, and he didn't give much opportunity to find anything out either. He called for their answer and gave little time for them to say anything at all.

Reid knew they could try to ask Simon questions and try to get him to say something, but he also knew they wouldn't want to risk it. They wouldn't want to risk Simon repeating his previous act of punishing Reid, yet Reid knew it was the only way they would be able to get any information out of Simon. If they wanted to find him, he reasoned, they were going to have to take that risk.

* * *

"We've got to do something."

"I know, Morgan, but what do you suggest we do?" Hotch asked. "Without even some semblance of what's going on, we have no way of finding him."

"Exactly, Hotch," Rossi commented. "That's why have to do something. I know we don't want to, but if we want to find him anytime soon, we need to."

"What can we even do?" JJ asked.

"I know we don't like it, but there's only one thing we can do," Rossi answered.

Knowing what Rossi was talking about, Hotch tried to reason. "He could kill him."

"He'll do that if we do nothing, too."

"Well, we need to decide now," Prentiss said. "We only have a minute before he calls us again."

"I don't think I can do it," Hotch responded. "I can't knowingly cause him more pain. He's been through too much already."

"He'll understand," Rossi replied back. "He's already showed us how strong he is. We need to do this."

The ringing of Hotch's phone brought the feeling of apprehension to everyone again. Hotch took a deep breath before taking the call.

"It's time. Have you come to a decision?"

"Why are doing this, Simon?" Hotch asked bluntly. There was no beating around the bush this time. He knew if they wanted answers, he would have to be forceful about it.

"I thought we have already been through this, Agent Hotchner. Are you trying to get Dr. Reid killed sooner?"

"No. I'm trying to get answers. You've put Reid through all this pain, and you're dead set on making us choose what happens to him. I think we deserve to know why."

"You deserve to know nothing!" Simon spat back. For the first time, the team heard Simon's calmness beginning to slip away. That was their way in.

"Can you tell me why we don't deserve to know anything?" Hotch asked, choosing his words carefully. "I can't seem to think of a reason for why that would be."

"None of you get it, do you?" Simon asked angrily. "I thought you'd have figured it out by now!"

"Figure out what? How are we supposed to know why you chose to take Reid hostage and have us choose the outcome? I think you're the one that doesn't get it."

"Oh, I get it, Agent Hotchner! I get it more than you profilers could possibly imagine! Do you think I'm stupid? Here's a profile for you, agents! Right now, Penelope is trying to trace this call. She has attempted to do this for every call, but has obviously failed each time. You all know it's not going to work, yet you still try. Agent Jareau is probably close to breaking down, if she hasn't already. Agent Prentiss is keeping her composure, but she really wants to just let it go. Agent Morgan desperately wants to hit something, presumably me. Agent Rossi has kept his calm so far. Is he the one who talked you into trying this again, Agent Hotchner?"

As Simon listed off each team member, they all stiffened in a stunned silence. They always knew that unsubs made the best profilers, but this was unbelievably eerie. His profile of each member was deadly accurate.

"And you, Agent Hotchner," Simon continued. "Oh, I know this hurts you. He's your agent. You feel responsible for him. Tell me something. How's that promise coming? How much are you blaming yourself?"

"What about Reid?" Rossi suddenly asked. Besides Hotch, no one had directly spoken to Simon before, but Rossi knew he had to say something. Hotch was clearly affected by Simon's profile of him.

"What about Dr. Reid?" Simon asked.

"You've profiled all of us, so I assume you've profiled him as well," Rossi responded.

"You see, that just makes the accuracy of my profiles all the more clearer. You're keeping a cool head in all this, Agent Rossi. Is Agent Hotchner too dumbfounded to speak?"

"No, I'm not," Hotch finally spoke. "But Agent Rossi is right. What about Reid?"

"Oh, he's the best of them all. He's sitting right beside me, so I obviously can't predict anything from him. But I can tell you what I predicted about him before this started. I predicted that he'd be able to handle this, and he has. Now, can you say the same thing? Did any of you think he'd be able to handle this very well?" Simon paused. "I'll take the immediate silence as a no. I've predicted something else for him too, although I'm not going to divulge that information quite yet."

"Is this all just a game for you?" Hotch asked. "You're profiling us like it is."

"No. This is not a game, Agent Hotchner. Though, I can't say I'm not having fun."

"If it's not a game, this must be for revenge. Why are you bent on revenge against Reid? What has he done to you?"

"_He_ has done nothing to me!" Simon's calmness was once again beginning to fade away, so Hotch knew he had to push it.

"If he hasn't done anything to you, then why did you take him? Why are you putting him through all this torture?"

"Why must this be all about Dr. Reid!" Simon replied, the calmness now completely gone.

"You took him. I assume he's the entire reason you're doing this."

"Dr. Reid has NOTHING to do with this!" Simon replied viciously. The line then went dead.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters.**

**I appreciate reviews and comments!**

* * *

Reid watched in an odd form of awe as Simon hung up the phone. He knew Simon was going to punish him for what his team did, but he was still slightly confused. Simon had never even gotten an answer from the team during this last call. Something didn't fit. Yes, Simon had gotten extremely irritated and angry, but it surprised him that he had lost control so easily. He was even more surprised when Simon's clearly displayed anger was almost immediately replaced by a calm, knowing smile.

* * *

"What did he mean by that?" JJ asked. "Why would he take Reid if he has nothing to do with this?"

"We've been looking at this the wrong way the entire time," Hotch answered. "Reid was never his target. The rest of us were. This was intended to torture us, not Reid."

"But have there even been any cases that the rest of us have worked on and he hasn't?" Morgan asked. "I don't think the kid has ever been out sick."

"What about when he was on medical leave after he was shot in the leg?" Prentiss asked.

"That can't be it," Rossi commented. "Hotch wasn't here then. This was aimed for all of us."

"When else wouldn't he have been here?"

"I don't know," Hotch answered. "But what I do know is that we've been looking for the exact opposite of the cases that we should have been."

"After he was sick with Anthrax," Morgan suddenly said. "It's the only time he wasn't here when we had a case."

"Garcia," Hotch said. He didn't have to say anything else for her to understand what he wanted.

"He's right," she said only after a few seconds of typing. "There's only one case that Reid wasn't involved in and the rest of us were. He was still recovering when we took the case."

"Any connection to the name Simon?"

"Give me a second," Garcia responded. The team waited impatiently for her as she looked for a connection. "I've got it!" she finally said. "The unsub had a son named Simon."

"He wasn't lying," Morgan said a little more angrily than he meant to.

"What happened to the unsub?" Rossi asked.

"Jonathan Welder," Garcia read off. "He killed four women in the Pennsylvania area. We caught him and... he's dead."

"He pulled out a gun on us when we caught up to him," Rossi said as he started to remember the case. "Hotch made the shot."

Hotch didn't respond to the look Rossi gave him. He seemed to be lost in thought.

"Well, he's had a lot of time to be angry and plan this whole thing out," Prentiss commented.

"What is it?" Rossi finally asked Hotch.

"This whole time," Hotch began slowly. "This was intended to torture all of us, but it's been a bit more directed towards me. He wasn't calling my phone just because I'm the Unit Chief. He called me every time because he wanted me to feel like I had to make the decision. He probably thinks I could have chosen not to kill his father, and now he's making me choose again, between having someone die and hurting Reid."

Everyone knew Hotch had to be right. It made sense. Hotch quite suddenly left the room, and everyone else stood there, unsure of what to do. Rossi eventually decided go after him.

* * *

"Relax, Dr. Reid. There will be no punishment for what Agent Hotchner just did. I really don't get angry that easy. I put up a good act, though, don't I?" Simon asked, but Reid only stared in silence. "I believe it's finally time for this to come to an end."

* * *

Rossi found Hotch in his office, sitting at his desk with his hand on his forehead. The stress was showing clearly on his face.

"Did I do the right thing by killing Jonathan?" Hotch asked without looking up. "I could have tried to only injure him."

"Yes, you did the right thing," Rossi responded.

"But if I hadn't, Reid wouldn't be in this mess."

"Aaron, the minute we start questioning every choice we make, mistakes start to happen. And not just little ones either. No matter what we do, and no matter how much good we do, this job brings us enemies. We wouldn't be doing it right if it didn't."

"That doesn't really make it any better."

"I know it doesn't, but right now you need to clear your head. We need to focus on finding Reid. And when all of this is over, and Reid is back here safe with us, he'll tell you exactly what I'm telling you now and what he's already said before."

"What's that?"

"None of this is your fault."

Both Hotch and Rossi turned as they heard a knock on the door. JJ was standing in the doorway. "Guys, sorry to interrupt, but Garcia found a possible address!"

They needed no further encouragement to forget their conversation and rush out of the office.

* * *

Simon walked around behind Reid and began doing something with his bound wrists. Reid was once again surprised when he realized one of his arms was suddenly freed.

"What are you doing?" Reid asked.

"You've been sitting here all this time, and have had no say in anything. I think it's time I give you a choice to make, Dr. Reid. I know your team will be here in a few minutes. I know they have figured it out that they have had it all wrong, and I've left them a nice trail to follow. I never said anything I didn't want them to hear." Simon walked back in front of Reid and reached for something in the tote bag.

"This building is rigged with explosives," Simon continued. "This is the trigger. Your choice is to push the trigger now, and we both die, or you can refuse, and I'll let you leave. There's only one condition. If you refuse and choose to leave, you have to leave the back way so you don't meet up with your team. But I have to warn you. If the trigger is not pushed within a few minutes, the timer will set it off instead. I'd say it would go off just as your team would enter the building."

"You want to kill yourself? You could run right now," Reid tried.

"No. Now that they know who I am, your team would find me again. It's inevitable. I know the likelihood of me coming out of this unscathed is slim at best, and I do not want to go to prison either. So, I've got nothing to lose. What about you? Which one are you going to choose, Dr. Reid?"

Reid didn't answer. He didn't want to make the decision, but he suddenly realized that he didn't have to choose. The answer was already there.

Reid found his free hand automatically reaching for the trigger that Simon was holding out to him. He stared down at the device that was now in his own hand.

* * *

The two black SUV's traveled rapidly along the road, lights and sirens blaring. Their destination was not too far away from their present location, yet it did not seem nearly close enough for the passengers inside. Neither did it seem like their vehicles could move fast enough.

* * *

"I'd say you have about a minute to decide without them being in harm's way."

Reid was slightly amazed at how easily his finger reached towards the trigger. He knew there was no way in hell that he could let his teammates get killed when he could prevent it, even if it meant is own death. All he had to do was press the button.

He only hoped they could forgive him.

Without much of a conscious effort, Reid pressed the trigger and waited.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters.**

**I appreciate reviews and comments!**

* * *

Reid waited for everything to turn to nothing. But it didn't happen. Absolutely nothing happened. He looked up at Simon, unable to hide the vast amount of confusion that he felt. Simon's only response was the grin showing prominently on his face. Reid could only stare dumbfounded as he couldn't seem to make is mouth form any words.

Simon laughed at Reid's response. "I wanted to see if you'd actually do it. I knew you would. You have a lot of guts, Dr. Reid."

"What was the point of doing that?" Reid finally asked.

"I have my reasons. Now, I was lying about that, but I wasn't lying about your team. They will be here soon."

Reid wasn't sure if he felt relieved to hear that or not. His team coming meant this would finally be over. But Simon had done everything deliberately so far. He wanted them to find him. Reid could only wonder why. Simon had a plan for how this ended, and Reid had a feeling that it wasn't anywhere close to good.

Simon walked up to Reid and grabbed the fake device out of his hand. Reid was still too shocked to even try to fight back as Simon tied his free arm behind him again. Simon seemed to take a long time to do it, and Reid soon realized that his arms were bound together again, but not to the chair anymore.

It was only a minute later that they could hear vehicles pulling up to the building. Reid looked up at Simon. He was smiling again. He roughly pulled Reid up to his feet. The sudden change in altitude caused Reid's head to spin, and if Simon hadn't had a strong grip on him, he might have collapsed straight onto the ground.

Reid felt something cold being pressed against his neck. In some ways, the chill that it sent down his spine helped him focus. It was a familiar feeling, but not quite like the knife had felt against his skin so many times today. He didn't have to see it to know what it was.

The quiet room suddenly turned chaotic. The door burst open, and Reid could only watch as his team filed in with their guns drawn and vests on. Simon was using Reid as a shield.

"Drop the gun, Simon," Hotch ordered.

"Give it up, Agent Hotchner," Simon responded. "You've obviously realized by now why I'm doing this."

"Let Reid go. You said yourself that he had nothing to do with this."

"Oh, but he's the most important part of this whole thing. You had me hurt him every time. You could have chosen to spare him the pain."

"He knows we couldn't let you kill innocent people. He said himself that he didn't want that either."

"You don't get it, do you? Do you know what he did for you? For all of you people? I told him this place was rigged with explosives! I gave him the trigger and told him if he didn't press it, he could leave. But if he didn't press it, a timer would have set it off just as all of you entered the building. And you know what he did? He pressed the trigger!" Simon let out a laugh. "He was willing to _die_ for all of you, and you repaid him by having him hurt!"

As Simon's words reverberated throughout the room, everyone's eyes turned directly from Simon to Reid. Reid returned each of their gazes as he tried not to think of the gun pressed against his throat. He hoped they would ignore what he had done for now and focus on Simon.

"Any of us would be willing to do the same for him," Hotch said after he recovered from his initial shock.

"Funny you should say that," Simon grinned. "Because I have another proposition for you, Agent Hotchner. Remember what I said to you earlier? You _will_ choose it in the end?"

"You know I didn't have a choice to kill your father, Simon. How is making me choose going to help? It's not going to bring him back."

"You did have a choice!" Simon spat back. "You could have aimed to only disarm him! You could have let him go! Anything! There were other options!"

"No, there weren't. He murdered four women, and then he pulled a gun on us. I have no doubt that he would have used it."

"No! You had a choice! So, now I'm giving you one last choice, Agent Hotchner. Then this will be all over. Someone has to die here today. And it's either going to be you or the young genius here." Simon emphasized his point by pressed the gun deeper in to Reid's neck, making him involuntarily wince.

Everyone tried to keep their eyes on Simon and Reid instead of Hotch, where they seemed to want to wander to.

"So, what will it be, Agent Hotchner? Need I remind you that he was already willing to die for you once? I'm sure he'd be willing to do it again. Or are you going to take up your previous offer of dying for him instead?"

The room became deathly silent, and nobody moved an inch. Simon and Hotch stared at each other. Simon had a wicked grin plastered on his face, but Hotch's face showed nothing.

Hotch was the first one to make any move. He slowly began to lower his gun, and everyone else eyed him nervously. His lowered both his hands to his side in a sign of surrender. Simon's grin became wider.

"Hotch, don't." Reid was the first one in the room to speak besides Simon and Hotch.

"You shut up, Dr. Reid! It's his decision!" Simon said to Reid before addressing Hotch. "Are you sure you don't want me to kill him instead? He seems pretty damn willing!"

"I won't let you hurt him anymore," Hotch responded. "Not when I can prevent it."

"Ha! Do you see the looks your teammates are giving you right now? Of course you don't! You're only focused on me and this guy right here! Let me ask the rest of you something. I know you're all thinking he shouldn't be doing this, but wouldn't you do the same thing? I don't think any of you would say no."

"No way in hell we'd let you kill him," Morgan replied angrily.

"Apparently not. But that's okay with me. He's the only one of you who had nothing to do with the reason my father is dead."

"So, why did you bring him into this then?" Hotch asked.

"I had to use someone! It was pretty easy to see how close you all are and how protective of him you are. And I'm sure that you are all well aware of the fact that physical pain is not always the worst kind of pain."

"If you do this," Hotch began. "You'll be putting Reid through psychological pain, too. He doesn't need that. He had nothing to do with this."

"It doesn't matter!" Simon replied. "It's over! You wouldn't even be here if I hadn't led you straight here!"

With that, Simon began to point the gun away from Reid and towards Hotch. The gun stayed aimed at Hotch only for a moment, before it moved unexpectedly.

Simon pointed the gun back towards Reid.


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters.**

**I appreciate reviews and comments!**

* * *

Reid never knew how much time could slow down. It seemed completely implausible to him, yet here it was, happening at this very moment. The pressure on his neck from the gun disappeared as the gun was pointed away from him. He knew it was moving towards its new target: Hotch.

The possible endings to the current situation quickly played out in his head. All of them seemed to end in Hotch getting killed since there wasn't much that could be done. Reid was blocking Simon from any shot his team had. The only way this could end differently was if he did something himself.

If Reid knew only one thing, it was that he knew he couldn't let this happen. He couldn't let Hotch die for him, no matter how much he was willing to. He hardly had any time to think of something he could do, and his mind was working overdrive.

His hands were still uselessly tied behind his back. Simon's grip on him had loosened slightly, but not enough for him to easily move out of the way. As hard as he tried, he couldn't think of anything he could do.

But then something suddenly clicked in his mind. There was one thing he could do. He knew after the last time Simon used the knife, he had stuck it into his pocket instead of back in the tote bag. Simon was too distracted at the moment. He wouldn't notice.

Reid carefully reached towards Simon's pocket. His whole goal was to stop Simon from shooting Hotch. It worked.

Very well, actually. Just not in the way he had hoped. He had been wrong. Simon did notice, and he pointed the gun back at Reid's neck. Reid froze.

"Ah, ah, ah, Dr. Reid. Don't try anything stupid. You are just determined to die for them, aren't you? I'm starting to seriously reconsider this. Maybe killing Agent Hotchner would be too easy. All of them deserve to know the loss that I felt went they killed my father, including him."

Reid summoned up the courage to speak. "Every day."

"What?"

"Every day. Every day we feel that loss. We wouldn't have a job if we didn't. We see all the people who are murdered, whose lives are taken away for no reason at all or for some reason that we try to make sense of. We see all the people that are affected by the losses, by the betrayals. So don't tell us we deserve to know how the loss feels. I think we know more about loss than anyone does. And we have all lost someone that we loved at one point. In one way or another. We-"

"You're rambling, Dr. Reid."

"...I know. I do that when I'm nervous. I do that when I'm not nervous. I can't help it. I'm pretty sure that habit makes my team want to kill me themselves sometimes."

"That's nice and all but I don't believe you. I don't think any of you know the real meaning of loss. Not yet, anyways, but you will. Now, back to the matter at hand-"

"I wasn't finished," Reid interrupted. He knew he was pushing it, to the very edge actually, but he felt like he didn't have any other option at the moment. "We do know the real meaning of loss. You said earlier that physical pain is not always the worst kind of pain. You were right. Knowing what it's like to lose someone isn't just from experiencing the death of someone close. In fact, it's almost worse when they just leave from your life willingly. We've all gone through that, too. It makes us feel worse when they choose to leave our lives and never look back. You're angry at Agent Hotchner for killing your dad, right? You want him to feel that loss, too, right? Well, he has, more than the rest of us. His wife left him. She divorced him because of this job. Then she was murdered because of this job. I think he's already felt enough loss. Even more than you have."

"Are you done?"

"Not yet-" Simon pressed the gun harder into Reid's neck once again, stopping him. "...Yes. I'm done."

"I thought so. That's interesting, but don't you think I already know all that? You still don't get it!" Simon was becoming angrier every second. "You can't talk me out of this, no matter what you say! Someone is going to die today! I told you that before! Do I really need to say it a third time? Now. Agent Hotchner. In my first letter I said I would honor your choice. As tempting as it is at the moment," Simon viciously directed towards Reid, "I'm not going to go back on my word."

The key to magic is the art of distraction.

Reid smiled inwardly. This time, Simon had been too distracted. Getting the knife from Simon's pocket had been the easy part. Cutting the bonds on his wrists, however, was difficult. If it hadn't been for his long fingers, he might not have been able to do it. But he did. Granted, he had accidently cut himself a few times in the process, but he wasn't exactly trying to be careful. He was trying to be quick.

A second later, and he would have been too late. The gun was once again lifted from his neck, and Reid immediately seized the only opportunity he knew he'd have. The bonds fell to the floor, but the knife stayed in his hand. Reid was amazed at how fast Simon's gun was pointed directly at Hotch. Instinctively, Reid reached for the gun, trying to pull it out of the sights of its target.

What happened next, Reid wasn't entirely sure. Everything happened too fast. Reid knew he moved the gun before it went off. How much, though, he didn't know. What he did know was that it was not enough. He saw Hotch go down.

And then it was a struggle for the gun. More shots were heard. Reid didn't know if any came from Simon's gun for sure, but he knew at least one of them had to have come from one of his teammates. Then he was tumbling to the floor along with Simon. Then he felt the pain flare up in his stomach. He had completely forgotten about his wounds. The fall must have aggravated them.

Somewhere in his mind, it registered that something wasn't right, though. He was vaguely aware that it was hurting too much to be his previous wounds. He couldn't seem to focus as his injuries, blood loss, exhaustion, and newfound pain finally caught up to him. He stared at the ceiling above him. It was spinning. Rapidly. It wasn't until he felt someone turning him onto his back that he realized it wasn't even the ceiling he had been staring at. Blurry faces came into view. They were speaking to him, but he didn't hear what they were saying.

Most likely his name, he reasoned. Stay awake. Keep your eyes open. These seemed like ridiculous requests at the moment. Sleep felt so welcoming. Comforting. Relaxing. The whole day had felt anything but that. He knew that was why it felt so tempting to give in to it. He just wanted it to be over, and technically it was. Yet, he knew it wasn't. Not yet. Not until he knew if Hotch was okay.

Which apparently would have to wait. His body wasn't going to let him stay awake long enough to find out.


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters.**

**I appreciate reviews and comments!**

* * *

Morgan stood at the sink. He stared down at his hands as the water washed the blood away. He was almost mesmerized by the sight of the mix of blood and water. He was still in shock of the image of Reid that kept flashing through his mind. He thought he had looked bad when they had first burst into the room, but it had only gotten worse. There was so much blood. Too much blood. The blood was on his clothes, too, but he hadn't even noticed that right away, nor did he care. The sight of blood was nothing new to him, but it was whose blood it was that got to him.

It was over. It was finally over. Yet, so far from it.

* * *

JJ's hands were still shaking. She tucked them into her sides in an effort to hold them still. She wasn't sure if it worked, though, because her whole body felt like it was shaking as well. Tears were starting to burn in her eyes as she anxiously tried to hold it together. She didn't want to fall apart, yet she wasn't sure if she'd be able to stop that from happening. She had already washed the blood off of her and changed her clothes, but she could still see it. She closed her eyes; the blood was there. She opened them; she could still see the blood. The sight just wouldn't leave her vision.

It would go away eventually. She desperately prayed it would go away eventually.

* * *

Rossi knew Simon was dead. He had no doubts, since he had been the one to take the shot. Reid's struggle with Simon had put everyone on edge. All of them had waited and watched intently as the scene unfolded before them, but he was the only one able to get a clear shot. He had taken it without hesitation. He had felt for Simon's pulse himself, oddly relieved to find no beat at all. But somehow, it was like Simon was still there. He was still torturing the team, but that had been his plan the entire time. Simon had known his actions would have an effect on the team for a long time yet to come.

Even after death, Simon was still doing damage to the team. He wasn't done. Not yet.

* * *

Garcia was the only one who hadn't been there. Which, in some ways, was worse. It may have been better not to see the state Reid was in, but waiting to know what happened was torture in itself. They had called her as soon as they could, but it still wasn't soon enough for her. Her face was streaked with tears. She had forced the team to tell her the truth about his condition. She didn't want them to lie, not for her. They probably would have if she had let them, but as much as she wanted to hear that he would be okay, she still needed to know how bad it was. It didn't look good. She glanced around the hospital waiting room at the other team members there. This was torturing them, too.

And again, she was waiting. Waiting, and unable to do anything else.

* * *

Prentiss had never been more frightened for her team members. The sight of two of them lying unmoving on the ground had almost made her heart stop. The sight of the third motionless body, however, had absolutely no affect on her. The other two images were the ones still engrained in her mind. She had desperately wanted to run to Reid, but she was the closest to Hotch. It made sense that she be the one to help him. She knew Reid needed help, but the others would take care of him. And she had no idea how bad Hotch had been hurt. She had to take care of him. She could worry about Reid later.

There had only been one difference between the two motionless team members. One had been covered in blood. One had not.

* * *

Hotch sat carefully in the waiting room chair. Despite the care he took, he still winced from the bolt of pain that shot through his chest. His vest had done its job of preventing death and major injury, but it still hadn't stopped all damage to him. He hadn't actually seen what had happened after he had been shot. His vest had stopped the bullet, but the force of it had knocked him out. After he regained consciousness, the room had been in a panic. It had been easy for him to conclude that he hadn't been out very long, yet he felt like he had missed something very important in that short amount of time.

The first thing he saw when he had woken was the worried face of Prentiss. She had tried to keep him still, but he ignored her, determined to find out if Reid was okay. Simon was obviously dead. Rossi was leading in the medics they had requested beforehand. Morgan and JJ were kneeling by Reid, trying to apply pressure to his wounds where they could. He hadn't thought it was possible, but it looked like there was even more blood on Reid than before. The worst part was that he didn't know if it was Simon's blood, or if it was more of Reid's own blood. He could only hope it was Simon's, yet part of him knew that it wasn't.

What unnerved him the most was the fact that Reid was completely still. His eyes were closed, and his body was limp. It was the first time he had actually gotten a good look at the young man's injuries, and it made him feel sick. The bright red blood contrasted drastically with the extreme paleness of Reid's skin. Hotch hated to think it, but he nearly looked dead. Morgan and JJ reluctantly moved out of the way as the medics quickly took over. Rossi asked Hotch if he was okay, but Hotch didn't answer. He could only watch in shock at the sight before him. The others did the same.

Reid had been willing to die for all of them. If that happened, Hotch knew he wouldn't be able to keep his promise to Reid. He would blame himself.

Hell, he already did.


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters.**

**I appreciate reviews and comments! One more short chapter after this one, which I will add later today.**

* * *

The darkness was oddly consuming. His mind seemed to be wrapped around nothing at all, and it was a nice feeling. But slowly, his senses were beginning to kick back in, making him well aware of the fact that his current state was not as nice as he had originally thought.

His entire body felt like it was weighted down to the bed he was lying on. He didn't feel any pain, but he felt discomfort throughout his body. He gradually became aware of the soft chatter in the room. The voices seemed to help lull him back into a relaxing state, but there was something nagging at the back of his mind. There was something he needed to know, he just couldn't quite remember what it was.

He made more of an effort to fully wake up, but it proved to be a difficult task. His eyelids felt too heavy to open. He tried anyways, but remained unsuccessful. The silence of the chatter that previously filled the room told him that they had noticed him beginning to stir. Not wanting to disappoint them, he tried opening his eyes again. They fluttered for a moment before he was finally able to keep them open.

Morgan and Rossi were expectantly standing by his bed. Reid could easily spot the tiredness in their eyes and knew they had to have been running on little sleep, if any. As he looked up at them, he could clearly see the worry and tension fading from their expressions.

"Hey," Reid greeted them softly.

"Hey, Reid," Morgan smiled. "How are you feeling?"

"...Okay," Reid responded. "What exactly happened?"

"What do you remember?" Rossi asked.

"Uh... I remember struggling with Simon... after he..." Reid stopped as he suddenly remembered the question he needed an answer to. "Hotch..."

"He's fine, Reid," Rossi assured him. "His vest stopped the bullet. It took a lot of doing, but we got him to go home and rest."

Reid visibly relaxed. "What happened after that? What about Simon?"

"Dead as a doornail," Rossi answered. "I was able to get a shot when you were trying to get the gun."

Reid watched as both Morgan and Rossi tensed up again slightly. "What is it?" he asked.

"The knife caught your side when you went down," Morgan sighed as he filled Reid in. "We almost lost you, kid..."

Reid could hear the sadness etched in his voice. That explained why neither of them seemed to have gotten any rest, and why they had looked so relieved when he had finally woken up. He had known this had to have been hard for them as well, but seeing them in person now seemed to put it into full perspective.

"You should get some rest, Reid," Rossi suggested.

Reid didn't have the energy to try to argue and nodded slightly in agreement. He only closed his eyes for a moment, but it was long enough for him to realize how tired he actually was. The sounds around him were quickly fading away again as he drifted off.

* * *

Hotch followed the long hallway that led to Reid's room. He quickly spotted Morgan and Rossi standing outside the room talking to each other.

"How is he?" Hotch asked as he approached them.

"He's resting," Rossi answered. "He woke up for a few minutes earlier."

Hotch nodded. "You two should go home and rest. These past couple of days haven't been easy on any of us."

Hotch watched the two of them leave and stayed standing where he was in the hallway for a few minutes. He took a deep breath before finally entering Reid's room. He quickly took in the sight of Reid. He seemed to be resting peacefully, but he still looked pale. The doctor had said he'd make a full recover, which was a drastic relief after seeing Reid in the condition he had been in. Before they had been told this, though, it had been a long wait while Reid was in surgery. He didn't want to admit it, but he hadn't been entirely sure Reid would make it. And even though he knew he was okay now, it still made him feel better to hear that he had woken up.

Hotch finally moved to take a seat in the chair next to Reid's bed. As he did, he grimaced at the discomfort he felt in his chest. He sat still for a moment as he let it subside.

"Are you okay?"

Hotch looked up to find Reid awake, watching him with concerned eyes. "I'm fine," he answered. "Just a little sore. I'm the one who should be asking you if you're okay."

"I'm okay. Just a little sore," Reid smiled as he repeated Hotch's words. He received a slight smile back from Hotch, but it slipped away quickly.

"...I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault, Hotch."

"I know it's not," Hotch responded. "You don't need to tell me that. Rossi seemed to feel the need to keep telling me that it isn't."

"He's right, though. None of this was your fault."

"But it feels like it is," Hotch continued. "And I still feel like I should say it."

"I don't blame you for anything that happened, Hotch. The only one at fault is Simon."

"Reid..." Hotch began after a moment. "What you did..."

"It doesn't matter," Reid interrupted. "It was only a stupid test and another mind game of Simon's. His goal was psychological torture, not physical."

"No, Reid, it does matter. You didn't know that at the time. You were willing to kill yourself for the rest of us... That matters greatly."

"You were willing to do the same thing for me."

"And I guess I should be thanking you that I didn't get the chance. I don't know how you pulled that off, but I'm glad you did."

"Simon had every detail planned out," Reid said. "I knew there had to be a mistake somewhere. I just had to find it."

"Still, Reid, I'm proud of you. None of us are going to forget what you did, even if it was just a set up."

"I don't regret it," Reid responded after they had been quiet for a minute. "I'd do it again."

"I hope you never have to."

The two of them fell into a comfortable silence. After a few minutes, Hotch heard Reid's breathing turn slow and even and realized he had fallen back asleep. He adjusted himself in his own chair to get more comfortable and unintentionally nodded off shortly after.

* * *

Reid sighed in relief as he leaned back into his couch. He had finally been released from the hospital, but the short walk from the car to his apartment admittedly wore him out. He was sure he would have fallen asleep immediately if he had not heard Morgan's voice speaking to him.

"Are you sure you don't need anything else?"

"I'm fine, Morgan."

"I can stay awhile if you want me to."

"I'll be fine," Reid insisted. "I don't think I would be the best of company right now anyway. I'm probably just going to fall asleep right away."

"Alright. If you need anything, I'm only a phone call away."

Reid, too tired to talk anymore, waved his hand in a motion that indicated for Morgan to leave. He could hear Morgan chuckle in response as he left his apartment.

Reid listened to the first peaceful silence he seemed to have gotten for days. He relaxed in his spot, just staring at the wall across from him. Slowly, his eyelids started drooping. He was about to give in, but something on his coffee table caught his eye. He carefully sat up and reached for the envelope, which he knew had not been there the last time he had been in his apartment. Thinking maybe Morgan had left it for him, he opened it up and read the letter inside.

It was not from Morgan. It was from Simon.


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters.**

**I appreciate reviews and comments! Last chapter!**

* * *

Dr. Reid,

I suppose you have a question for me. More than one I'm sure, but I do not know if I have the answers.

All I can say is that I am truly sorry that I had to bring you in to all of this, but it had to be done. Agent Hotchner needed to learn his lesson, and this was the only way possible.

Your injuries will heal. Your mind will, too, in time. I am sorry I had to put this burden on you, but I never would have if I didn't think you'd be able to handle it.

You weren't a part of the death of my father, so I put no blame on you. But you would have, had you not been ill at the time. So, for that, I feel no guilt.

If you are reading this, then I am obviously dead. I made sure this letter would reach you no matter what happened.

It also means that I don't know whether or not I was successful in finishing my mission. It does not matter. I know my message got through either way.

I have to warn you, though. If I haven't, someone will finish my task for me. And someone will pay the price.

Whether it be you, Agent Hotchner, or someone else on your team, it will happen in the end. It's the risk of your job.

One day, someone is going to succeed in achieving their ultimate goal of revenge. Because people do not forget. They hold grudges.

So, be careful. I'm sure there will be many times to come where you will have a choice to make. I just hope you think it through before you decide to take someone's life.

The consequences are far too great to take it lightly. I hope you learned from Agent Hotchner's mistake.

The choice you made isn't one you'll soon forget, Dr. Reid. It's not a choice usually made with time left to think about it afterwards.

So, I hope you can live with your choice. I hope you can live with the choice of choosing to die.

Simon.

* * *

_Some choices we live not once but a thousand times over, remembering them for the rest of our lives. ~ Richard Bach_

* * *

**~The End~**

**Thank you for the many reviews and comments! They are greatly appreciated. I just love reading your reactions, so let me know your final thoughts. And sorry for all the cliffies, I just couldn't help it! ;)**

**There will be a sequal to this story! I'm not sure when I'll start posting that, but hopefully soon! Thanks for reading! :)**


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